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Introduction

Before the Civil War, the
frontier of American settlement generally followed the western limits of the
states bordering the Mississippi River, along with a slight western tilt that
included the eastern halves of Kansas and Nebraska.Beyond the edge of settlements such as St.
Joseph, Missouri and Omaha, Nebraska lay expansive prairies that eventually
gave way to the massive Rocky Mountains.Migrations via the Oregon and California trails into the
trans-Mississippi West had bypassed this vast interior often referred to as
the "Great American Desert" because of its comparative lack of
water. California and Oregon had climates and environments more conducive to
farming than the Great Plains and were rapidly populated, while the vast
interior lay mostly vacant of American settlements.

In the
1860s and 1870s, however, an increasing number of migrants turned their attention
to those areas of the trans-Mississippi interior along the now well establish
Oregon Trail and the new trans-continental railroad. Here they came into
conflict with the Indian tribes of the Great Plains which included the Sioux,
and Cheyenne.Both tribes allowed
travelers to cross their territory but would not accept permanent
settlements.When migrants began to
push into Wyoming, the Dakotas, and Colorado in violation of native
sovereignty, the Indians waged a determined resistance. Gradually, however,
they were subdued and the Great Plains lay open to settlement.

List of routes

Generally historic
roads, trails and migration routes are defined as having their terminus in
present day North Dakota, South Dakota,
Nebraska, Kansas, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, as well as parts of Oklahoma,
Texas, and Colorado.

Dealing with a Broken Link

Keys to more information and resources

Route: 5E1; Info. Link: (1);Map:
(1);Image
Gallery:(1);Road Trip:(1)

Image Gallery= Link to a gallery of images that pertain
to0 the route.

Map= link to a map of this route.These maps have been developed from
accounts found in various research sources.The route lines, on each map, have been linked to the current modern
roads found to be the closest to the original route descriptions.Locations marked along the route are usually
places named within the aforementioned research sources.

Road Trip= link to a webpage about ad driving trip along this route.Here you will find an in-depth
introduction to the route, links to additional information, as well as a map
of the entire route and a listing of the U.S. counties through which it
passes. The driving tour is divided into individual segments of 1 to 2 hours
driving time.Each segment includes a
map, directions, and features of historical interest.

Info. Link= link to a webpage containing additional facts about
this route.

Route= each route has a specific Identifier code (ID
Code).Each ID
Code includes a number that identifies the cultural / geographicalarea of the United States in which we have
developed information about the route, the letter of the alphabet under which
it is filed and a dedicated number for the route.Thus data about the route designated as 5C2
would be found on the webpage for “Routes of the Southeastern Gulf Plains”,
filed under the letter C route number 2*.*The
specific route number will not conform to a descending order as new routes
are added to the database.

Keys to the routes

Use the “letter keys” to quickly locate an historic route.Each identified route is listed
alphabetically along with links to additional information, places where the
route terminates, as well a short descriptive paragraph about importation
aspects of the route.

In
1867 Joseph
G. McCoy,
of Illinois, settled at Abilene to engage in the cattle trade, and he developed
the Abilene Trail which connected
with the already established north end of the Chisholm Trail.
Also known as the Abilene Trail.

In 1874 Dodge
City merchants and buffalo hunters established Adobe Walls as a trading
center on the Canadian River in Hutchinson Co., Texas. The route was heavily
used by hunters and hide freighters.It was perhaps a sub-route of theJones and Plummer Trail.After the buffalo hunting
ended, this route became primarily a cattle trail. AKA. Palo Doro Trail

This trail ran between the Mountain
Route and the Cimarron Route of
the Santa Fe Trail.It actually began at Fort Aubrey near
present day Syracuse, KS ran south westerly through Colorado and into
Cimarron County, OK were it ended at the Cold
Spring Campground near the Cimarron River.

Nathan and Daniel Morgan
Boone, sons of famous frontiersman Daniel Boone forged this road in 1804. The
pathway enabled settlers to reach central Missouri.Later, Franklin, MO became the starting
point for the Santa Fe Trail.

This
military road generally followed along present day State Route 58 north from Fort Sill to the Canadian River. Then followed
along the south bank of the river eventually crossing it near the mouth of
Turkey Creek then in a northwesterly direction along Turkey Creek to Wolf
Creek then along that stream to Camp Supply.

U. S. War Department map of
1834 shows a road from Ft. Leavenworth up the west side of the Missouri River
to Ft. Calhoun in the vicinity of future Omaha. The road also served the
Council Bluffs Indian Agency at Bellevue, NE. Old
Ft. Kearny was located at future Nebraska City in 1846.AKA. Old
Ft. Kearny Road

Crow Wing Trail

see
Woods Trail

D

This route was created by John Dawson between
1859-61.Dawson left for the
Pike’s Peak area in the fall of 1859, striking north from the Brazos Valley in Texas to the Arkansas River, then heading west into
Colorado Territory to Pueblo. This trail, known as the Dawson Trail would
later be extended by others into South Texas and called the Western Trail to Dodge City.

This road was built, at the
end of the Black Hawk War in 1832 to protect Iowa City, the original capital
of Iowa, from Native-Americans to the west. The highway known locally as the Old Military Road quickly became a
major transportation artery for settlers of Iowa.

The “King’s Highway” of the Spanish era, in
Missouri, followed an ancient Native-American footpath.It was laid out in 1789 and extended from
New Madrid, through Ste. Genevieve, to St. Louis. Today many
towns along the Mississippi River, including Cape Girardeau, carry the name
“Kings Highway” on streets and roads.

In
1872 Texas cattleman were no longer welcome in Abilene, primarily due to tick fever, the unruly conduct
of the many cowboys, and the destruction that the big herds did to local
land.As a result the cattlemen began
to bring their herds to Ellsworth, about 60 miles southwest of Abilene.Ellsworth began to thrive and that year,
some 220,000 Texas Longhorns came up the Chisholm Trail(6C4)
to the new shipping point.

An early east-west road in
the Kansas Territory. It ran from Elwood on the Missouri River to Marysville,
in Marshall County, a distance of about 120 miles.Its path is approximated by U.S. Route 36.In 1860 the first railroad in Kansas ran
along this route.

F

This
Native-American trail ran northwest from the Arkansas
Post,
the first semi-permanent European settlement in the Lower Mississippi
Valley.As people began to move
westward, it began to be utilized to transfer pioneers to the Santa Fe Trail in Kansas.AKA. Fayetteville
Trail.

This old military
road from Fort
Bascom in New Mexico most likely followed
the Canadian River east into Texas and then the Palo
Duro Creek as it crossed the Oklahoma
panhandle through the southeast corner of present-day Texas County and then
northeastward through Beaver County into Kansas.

In the winter of 1868-69 a
790 mile long trail was made from Fort Dodge to Camp Supply in the Indian
Territory, over which government supplies were taken to the latter post. It
passed near the elevation known as Mount Jesus.As such it was also called the Mount Jesus Trail.

In 1826
Captain Pierce M. Butler and Lieutenant James L. Dawson surveyed a military road from Fort Gibson to Fort Smith.
This route became the first planned road construction within the
limits of the present Oklahoma.

Established in 1867, this trail was utilized to transfer
supplies from the railhead at Fort
Hays to Fort Dodge,
some 75 miles distant, as well as being an access point for emigrants and
traders to the Santa Fe Trail.

In
1837 Colonel Zachary Taylor created a commission to locate a military road
from Fort
Leavenworth
to Fort Coffey (Coffee), now known as Fort Smith in western Arkansas. This road as laid out was 286 miles long.Fort Scott was located on this highway at a point about
midway between Forts
Leavenworth
and Coffey. Today U.S. Route 69 follows this old trail.

State records show that this road
was being constructed and modified in 1879.Although the exact route is not known it is probable that the road
approximated current US Route 54 between Fort Scott and Moran, and US Route
59 between Moran and Ottawa.

An old military
road in southeastern Oklahoma that linked Fort Sill, Fort
Arbuckle, Fort McCulloch, and Fort Towson. From Fort Towson to route
extended as far east as Little Rock, AR.Much of this route approximates present U.S. Route 70.

A 150 miles military
road from Fort Smith through the Choctaw Nation to Fort Towson near the Texas
border. The road was constructed in 1831 by Capt. John Stuart of the 7th
U.S. Infantry Regiment as a route to relocate the Choctaw during the infamous
Trails of Tears incident.

Construction of the first government
road from Fort Snelling to Lake Superior began in
1852. It carried new settlers into the territory and later saw scheduled
stagecoach and mail service. Portions of the route, also known as the Point
Douglas Superior Military Road, are now
designated as a Minnesota Scenic Byway.

This road ran in a northeast direction for about 45 miles along KS
State Route 156 between Fort Zarah on the Walnut Creek in Barton County, Kansas, to Harker Mill located at Fort
Harker, now Kanopolis,
Kansas.

Route used in the 19th
century for movement of cattle to markets in the East. It ran west of and
roughly parallel to the Chisholm
Trail.The original route was blazed in
1874 by cattle-droverJohn T. Lytle, who herded
3,500longhorn cattlealong the
leading edge of the frontier from South Texas to the Red Cloud Indian Agency
at Fort Robinson, Nebraska. By 1879 the Trail was the principal thoroughfare
for Texas cattle bound for northern markets. AKA. Dodge City
Trail; Fort Griffin Trail; Western Cattle Trail;Old Texas Trail; Texas Cattle Trail ; Western Trail; Old Doan’s Trail

Great
Western Trail

Another name for the Great Western Cattle Trail.

H

Route: 5E1; Info. Link: (1);Map:
(1);

Image Gallery:(1);Road Trip:(1)

I

This route ran from the end of the National Road (U.S. Route 40) at VandaIia, Illinois.Across Illinois it followed a series of
small local roads to the Mississippi River.It crossed the river to Fort
Madison, Iowa.

J

This trail ran in
southwesterly direction from Dodge City to the Jones and Plummer Ranch,
located in the Texas Panhandle, on Wolf Creek just east of present-day US 83
highway. The trail served as a thoroughfare for pioneers and cattle drives
but it was created by the freighters who hauled buffalo hides to Dodge City
and goods back down the trail to serve the buffalo hunters and later the
ranchers and settlers in the region.

K

A
section of the Great Osage Trail that
was used by the KanzaIndians.When it
began to be utilized by American pioneers, the trail began at Big John, on
the Kaw Reservation, near Council Grove and passed through present-day
Florence, KS.From there, it went to
what was known as Big Timbers on Turkey Creek, where it intersected with the Santa
Fe Trail.

L

Named for
abolitionist James H. Lane, the trail was established in 1856 to bypass
pro-slavery strongholds in Missouri and provide free-state settlers a safe
route into Kansas. The trail also served as part of the underground railroad,
used by John Brown and others to transport slaves north to freedom.Today the route is approximated by US Route
75.

Leaves
the Oregon Trail about 4 miles east of Red Vermillion crossing of Oregon
Trail near 23199 Oregon Trail Rd., Saint Marys,
Pottawatomie County, Kansas 66536. Site is in the vicinity of N39.238674°
W96.175022°.Documented in1855 as a corduroy road built
in 1844 by James Clyman and Nathaniel Ford who
pioneered a new trail up Lost Creek to cross the Red Vermillion near present
Laclede, and rejoin the original trail at Rock Creek.

M

The country's last
regularly-used cattle trail, formally known as the Magdalena Livestock
Driveway. Herds from eastern Arizona and western New Mexico were driven
along this trail to Magdalena, where they could be shipped to market.

The Magraw Cut-off is an alternate route of the Oregon Trail
that departs the
“Independence Branch” south of the Black Vermillion River at (N39.573269° W96.556959°)
in Marshall County, Kansas.It follows
the divide around the headwaters of Corndodger and Elm (Mosquito) Creeks to
it terminus at the “St. Joseph’s Branch” of the Oregon Trail at Marysville,
Kansas.

This historic, 345 mile long,
cattle trail was essentially a feeder route of the Great Western Cattle Trail from Brownsville, which ran northward
through Santa Rosa, George West, Three Rivers, San Antonio, Beckman, Leon
Springs, Boerne, and Comfort to Kerrville, Texas where it joined with the
main trunk of the Great Western Cattle
Trail.

Joseph G.
McCoy, a cattle buyer from Illinois, was instrumental in extending the Chisholm
Trail from present day Wichita to Abilene, Kansas. In 1867, McCoy built
stockyards that he advertised throughout Texas. As a result Abilene became a
prosperous and famous cattle town from 1867 to 1870.

This route was laid out from Downtown Omaha
in 1857 by Captain Edward Beckwith for the U.S. Army.Originally a shipment road for military
supplies to Fort
Kearny, thousands of travelers
moving to the Pacific
Northwest used the road for the next
50 years as a part of the Overland Trail.

N

O

From the middle of Oct. 1862,
until Mar. 4, 1863, Ben Holladay's Overland Stage followed this cutoff. which
left the Military Road about 1 mile west of Guittard's
Station, crossing the Big Blue River at Oketo,
about 10 miles north of Marysville, on the edge of the Otoe Indian
Reservation. It rejoined the original trail 3 miles west of Pawnee or Rock
House Station. This station was about 3 miles northeast of present Steele
City, Nebraska.

This
Native-American route known as the Osage
Trace followed the Grand River from Kansas to the vicinity of present
Fort Gibson, where it turned east
toward Fort Smith. The Osage used the pathway in their travels to and from
the plains. One of their objectives in passing this way may have been to
acquire salt from various salt springs in the Grand (Neosho) River valley.
French and American traders from the east also used the trace to reach the
Osage.

P

In 1859 when gold was discovered near Denver City, Kansas
Territory, Atchison business men sought to take advantage of their
geographical location and open a new road to the mines which would follow the
1st Standard Parallel as closely as possible. It was believed that about 60
miles could be saved by a road due west which would join the Pikes Peak Express route in present
Jewell County.

The southern terminus was located near the Pawnee
River in Ness County, Kansas in the vicinity of N38.275552°
W99.896470°. The trail ran in a
north-south direction from Kansas into Nebraska.It crossed the Platte River between Chapman
and Central City located in Merrick County. It is not known how far north
this trail extended.

In 1855 the federal
government began building this road. Although intended as a highway for troop
movement, this route from Hastings, Minnesota
to Superior, Wisconsin
was one of the first roads in Minnesota Territory.AKA. Point Douglas to St. Louis River Military
Roadand asDouglas Highway.

This trail from Arkansas City
to Ponca agency on the Salt Fork river, being about 35 miles long. Many
trails branched from it leading to Indian agencies, cow camps and soldiers'
camps. This trail also became a stage line until the building of the Santa Fe
RR in 1886. It was over this trail that home-seekers traveled in April, 1889,
to reach the first land opened for settlement in Oklahoma.

The earliest and
easternmost of the principal routes by which Texas longhorn cattle were taken
afoot, starting in the 1840’s, to railheads to the north. The trail split
into terminal branches that ended at various points in Missouri and in other
towns in eastern Kansas.Although
there were several branches north of Baxter Springs, KS the main or middle
route ended at Sedalia, MO.The East
Branch terminated at St. Louis, MO and the West Branch at Kansas City,
MO.AKA. Sedalia Trail, Texas Road, Preston Road.

The Smoky Hill Trail was a route originally used in 1859-61 by
prospectors heading for the gold fields near Denverin what was then Kansas
Territory, it extended west from the Missouri
Riveracross the central Great
Plains spanning the length of what
is today Kansas and the
eastern portion of Colorado.It was utilized as a stagecoach route from
1865 to 1870 by the Butterfield Overland Dispatch and Wells Fargo.

Name of the middle segment of the Smoky Hill Trail in Colorado.It was a direct
western cutoff from the northern segment of the Smoky Hill Trail at Cedar Point.It then ran west through the Beuck Draw
in Elbert County.It generally
followed near present day
CO Route 86to
the Kiowa Creek crossing and then a northwest route to Denver, where present
day Smoky Hill Road runs on the ridge of Sampson Gulch and coincides very
closely with the Starvation Trail. The trail intersected with the southern
segment of the Smoky Hill Trail
near present Quincy Avenue in Denver.

T

This trail to the
Texas Panhandle was about 240 in length and was divided into two distinct
sections: the northern half through Kansas, which was, in fact, the Jones and Plummer Trail; and the southern leg ran from Beaver, Oklahoma, to Tascosa.

This road built up the west
side of the Missouri river in 1858-60 was not so much vehicular travel as it
was to serve as access for construction and maintenance of the first
telegraph line in Kansas Territory. This line became a link in the first
transcontinental telegraph established by Western Union in 1861.

A later name for a segment of the Shawnee Trail (6S5) that was coined by southbound settlers from
the Midwest to Texas during the years of the Mexican
War.The Texas Road became
a major trade and emigrant route
across the Indian Territory.
It remained an important route north-south route until Oklahoma
statehood in 1907.

This 34 mile
long road was in existence prior to 1879. Today the road is a segment of
current Kansas State Route 4that runs through Waubansee
County to Dover
before merging onto eastbound Interstate 70
at Exit 353.I-70 and K-4 (which are
also concurrent with US-40
at this point) then enter the state capital, Topeka.

The
exact route of this historic road is not known.Research shows that the route went over a stone
bridge on the Wakarusa River at a location due south of the community of
Berryton, Kansas. This would place the bridge on the South Berryton Road
which runs north-south between Kansas State Route 268 and Topeka.As such it is possible that the Ottawa
State Road ran west from Ottawa for about 20 miles before turning north for
about 28 miles to Topeka.

Name
given to the route taken by the Native-American Sac and Fox during their
relocation from eastern Iowa to the Kansas Territory starting in 1842.The trail eventually ended at the land
provided for them in portions of the present counties of Lyon, Osage, and
Franklin, Kansas.

U

V

W

This
westernmost of the Red River Trails
had originated with Native Americans, and before the ox cart traffic it
connected the fur-trading
posts of the Columbia Fur
Company.The trail travelled south
along the Red River and the Minnesota River.

This trail was created when
the East Plains Trail and the West Plains Trail could not be
effectively utilized due to problems with the Native-American along those
routes.The traders therefore created
this alternate trail between the headwaters of the Mississippi River and the
settlements near the Canadian Border. AKA. Crow Wing Trail, Saint
Paul Trail, Saint Paul Pembina Road, Pembina Cart Road, and Pembina
Trail.

X

Y

z

Image Gallery

During our research we have collected images and
photographs that are of general interest to a variety of historic American
roads, trails and migration routes.Some of them are presented on this website because we believe they
tend to provide the reader with additional information which may aid in the
understanding of this topic as well as our ancestors past lives.